, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
—and consider also implications for household finances generally. So, council tax is going to be a consideration as well. We've always said that we'd consider the overall tax outlook for people when we're considering Welsh rates of income tax. So, I think…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
I think we also need to consider what, if any, impact there is on our budget anyway by decisions from the UK Government, because we've been hearing a lot now about cuts to public spending. So, what does that mean for, you know, negative adjustments to our…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
I think we'll need to give that some further consideration as well. Because things are so volatile at the moment, things could be different in March as compared to December. So, I think that I'd probably give some further thought to that.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
So, I'd like to ask Andrew to address the first part of the question, and he'll correct me if I'm wrong on the second, but we had around 9,000 additional rate taxpayers here in Wales. Collectively, they've benefited by £45 million as a result of the decisions…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
I made the announcement really quickly in relation to land transaction tax because the interventions announced by the UK Government were coming in with immediate effect, and obviously I didn't want to have that kind of market uncertainty but also to do the…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
Yes, there's funding in each of the three years remaining.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
The changes on the part of the UK Government obviously have a direct impact on our finances, which means that we have approximately £30 million a year more than we otherwise would have done, but obviously we are spending a proportion of that in delivering…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
Yes. So, the Chancellor, obviously, made announcements that impacted on stamp duty land tax in England, but unfortunately, despite the fact that we have land transaction tax here in Wales, which is directly impacted by decisions across the border, or at least…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
So, that was arrived at following looking at new work from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but also some of the independent forecasts from HM Treasury. But I might invite Andrew to say a bit more about what it tells us and what it doesn’t.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
Yes. I'll just open, I suppose, by reflecting on what an extraordinary period we're living in, and just the implications of the mini-budget by the Chancellor on Friday are quite significant for us here in Wales. One of the things that, obviously, was really…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24—Pre-budget scrutiny
Yes. Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government. I'll ask officials to introduce themselves.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I’m very grateful for that question. I can hear the Conservatives chuntering away behind me; I do admire the way in which the leader of the opposition is doubling down in his support for the UK Government, even though the markets—and everybody—are obviously…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The tax changes announced in the fiscal statement favour the rich and will worsen inequality. The statement provides no additional help to fund public services at a time when costs are rising sharply.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I’m grateful for that question. I do think that the £1 million that has been announced is really important in terms of helping to support some of these warm banks, with things that local authorities will seek to do, but also other organisations—churches…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I prioritised funding for local government in the Welsh budget so that every authority in Wales received an increase in funding of more than 8.2 per cent. Our cost-of-living measures, over £1.5 billion this year alone, support people in every part of Wales…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I'm very grateful for the question, and I've really been pleased with the work of the panel, which actually continued right the way through the pandemic and was able to keep on delivering, because we obviously have a commitment for public sector organisations…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The panel was established by the partnership council for Wales to steer local government work on climate change. Our relationship is one of partnership.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I'm not sure where the Conservative leader thinks that this money is coming from. There's not £50 billion being handed down by the UK Government to anyone. It's £50 billion that the UK Government is offsetting in terms of providing additional funding to the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Absolutely. [Inaudible.]—the WLGA also does an excellent job in terms of trying to impress upon the UK Government the significant and very real challenges that local authorities are facing, and those challenges of course then feed into their communities and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I have written to the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury setting out that cost of living and the energy crisis must be the foremost priority. There was nothing for cost-of-living support for local authorities in last week’s mini budget.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Perhaps if the Member would like to share that correspondence with me, I'll be able to take a look at it in some more greater detail and then respond to you in writing once we've had a chance to explore the concerns further.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Corporate joint committees have a duty to develop regional transport plans. These will drive how local authorities in each region collaboratively deliver safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport services, including in Denbighshire.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you very much for raising that and, of course, the statement last Friday, I think that one of the biggest impacts of it will be the fact that there was absolutely nothing there to support public services. You’ll have heard me say yesterday that our…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
One of the commitments in our programme for government is to reduce the administrative burden on local authorities, so we've already started that piece of work by approaching all local authorities, both leaders, chief executives and those within the Society…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 put in place a new performance regime to drive improvement in local authorities across Wales. Alongside this I have agreed £800,000 funding for the Welsh Local Government Association improvement programme to…
